"So what's on the agenda for today?"
Stella smiled knowingly at her fellow detective, "You say that like you don't know Flack, when it's always the same sex, drugs and murder." Flack chuckled appreciating the early morning humor. Stella opened up the suspect's files, touching the screen several times as she found what she was looking for.
"Well let's see we discovered that there might be a connection to our Jane do and this guy here."
She handed Flack a computerized clipboard with the suspect's name and information. Flack paused for a moment staring at the name and picture of the current suspect at hand. "You're telling me that this guy might have been involved with our Vic?"
"Yeah, why you know him?" she inquired taking another look at the guy. It was a minute before Flack answered studying the picture carefully, "Yeah I think so; Damien Greene…I think I might have seen him when I was out yesterday with Danny."
The crease between his eyebrows deepened in concentration trying to remember what the guy had been up to. "I think that he was at the bar where we went looking for a friend of the Vic Ashley Turner." He frowned handing the clipboard back to Stella. "There might have been a reason behind his curious glances, the man was jumpy as a jackrabbit when he saw us talking to the girl, kept glancing over his shoulder, talk about having an obvious alibi."
Arching his brow contemplatively, he pulled out his cell phone calling down to dispatch to locate Damien's whereabouts. Stella waited patiently for him to finish. "Alright they said he's somewhere downtown running errands," he snapped the cell phone shut pocketing it, "I'll get Danny and we'll go check it out."
Stella grabbed his arm as he turned to leave thinking about what Mac was saying yesterday that the two cases might somehow be connected, maybe Damien Greene was on the run for more then one felony. "Wait I'm going with you, Danny's processing evidence, but I have some questions of my own that need to be answered. Flack shrugged, "Alright grab your jacket and let's go."
Downtown the streets were lined with New Yorkers shoving there way through rushing to get to different meetings and appointments. As they wove their way through the crowd they couldn't help bumping into the scurrying pedestrians. "Sorry excuse me," It felt like the zillionth time that he'd apologized since they left the Crime Lab. "You can always trust New York to be jam packed with people on a Sunday." Stella shook her head scanning the overcrowded street for the store they were looking for. Flack tapped her on her shoulder pointing at a shop lower down, across the street.
Quickly glancing both ways Don make his way into the street, motioning for a car to wait when they honked their horn at him. Both of them made it across the street and continued to the shop. "Jeez ya think that people would learn to slow down when they see people in the street." He was staring after the car that had just honked at them. Again Stella just smiled and shook her head. "Come on we're here."
Don opened the door walking into the shop in front of Stella as the customers all looked up at them curiosity turning into annoyance when they saw that they were cops. "Well what a warm welcome this is," Don muttered under his breath. Stella walked up to the man behind the counter, who shifted uncomfortably watching Don with careful eyes. Stella pulled the picture of Damien from the inside pocket of her jacket sliding it toward the man behind the counter, "I was wondering if you've ever seen this man," she asked casually pointing at the picture. The man immediately got defensive shaking his head, "No, I've never seen him before, why is he in some sort of trouble?"
He was fidgeting uncomfortably trying to hide something from view. "Listen man relax, all we want to know is if…" Don faltered when he heard the door chime as someone walked into the store, and the man behind the counter shot them a warning look.
"Don!" Don glanced behind him, and caught sight of Damien Greene trying to make a run for it when he realized he'd been found out.
"Damien!" Don called running for the door, with Stella right behind him. They both rushed out the door stumbling out onto the sidewalk just in time to see Damien turn down a side alley, "STOP! NYPD! Get out of the way!" he ran shouting and pushing his way through the crowd which eventually split down the middle as people pressed themselves against the buildings and mailboxes that lined the streets.
Don and Stella split up, Stella running the long way around to cut Damien off, while Don ran down the alley where Damien had gone seconds before. Gun drawn at the ready, Don stopped halfway down noticing the dumpsters at far end. "Come on out Damien, the first mistake you made was deciding to run." Don walked closer toward the two dumpsters walking past a huge stack of garbage bags sitting in the corner.
His phone vibrated in his pocket but he ignored it checking behind the first dumpster.
No sign of Damien. Just as he was about to check the other one, he spun around as the sound of sudden movement behind him. He caught Damien's arm just as he went to hit him, but Damien had other plans. With both hands occupied Flack tried unsuccessfully to dodge the knife Damien was holding in his other hand. It happened in a split second and the knife hit him square in the gut.
Leaning over and gasping in pain, Damien shoved it deeper, wrenching it out as Flack stumbled backward trying to stem the flow of blood now flowing freely out of the wound in his stomach. Instinctively he raised his gun, but Damien knocked it out of his hand pushing him backwards into one of the dumpsters.
Don groaned trying to gather himself enough to stop Damien, Stella was sure to be lower down waiting for them all he had to do was get Damien to the end of the alley. Pulling himself hastily of the ground he ran toward Damien without a second thought. He was already sprinting away when he noticed Don was still in pursuit. Then he spotted Flack's gun on the ground by the garbage where he had dropped it. Flack held his hand to his wound, running ignoring the stabbing pain in his abdomen as he chased Damien down.
Damien leaned over and picked up the gun turning while he ran. Just then Stella appeared at the end of the alley gun in hand. "DON!" Suddenly shots fired simultaneously stopping them all in their tracks. It took Flack a minute to process, but the pain he felt was excruciating. All he could see was Damien falling to his knees, and Stella as she ran toward them kicking his gun far enough away from Damien as she could. He met the ground in that instant unable to hold himself up any longer.
Stella caught him before he ended up face first in the dark wet pavement. "DON! Come on Don you're gonna be alright…" The cops were finally coming up the alley way hearing the commotion from where they were patrolling on the streets. They ran past her handcuffing Damien and dragging him toward the street. He smirked at Stella who was trying desperately to help Flack. She had managed to cripple Damien, but not before he had shot Flack. Stella lay him down carefully on the pavement trying to asses some of his injuries; there was just so much blood…
"Come on Don can you hear me?" She pressed her hands against his chest putting pressure on both wounds while his shirt stained crimson with the excessive amount of blood. Don was barely conscious but he could feel Stella beside him. "Ey—Stel…" he coughed blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. "Shhh, its okay Don, don't talk…HEY GET ME AN AMBULANCE!!!" she shouted hearing Don's phone in his pocket. She answered it, tapping Flack lightly on his cheek to keep him conscious. "Stay with me Don you're gonna be fine…"
"Don?" The voice on the other line asked uncertainly, "Danny!" Stella gasped into the phone trying to ignore how pale Don had gotten due to blood loss. "Stella?"
"Danny, Don's been injured; I need you to meet me at the hospital…Don?" Stella dropped the phone not waiting for Danny's reply; Don was fading fast. "Come on Don stay with me." The paramedics came and carefully put him on a stretcher carrying him to the ambulance. Looking around she recovered the phone but the line was already dead Danny wasted no time and would already be on his way.
Staring at her bloodstained hands Stella cringed at the recollection of the time where she had no memory of how it had gotten there. The paramedic handed her a towel before slamming the door of the ambulance and running around front. As she made her way to the car, her phone vibrated in her pocket and she tried to get her hands to stop shaking long enough to answer it. It was Mac.
"Stella, I just spoke to Danny, what happened where are you?"
Taking a deep breath, there was a two second pause before she blurted out everything that had just taken place in the last twenty minutes. "Mac its Don he's been seriously injured, we caught Damien but Flack was…shot with his own gun, and stabbed by Damien…I was too late…Don…" By the time she finished rambling enough to hear Mac reassuring her on the line she realized that she was crying. "Stella listen to me, this isn't your fault it was an accident, now don't go anywhere yet, I'll come and get you."
The authority in his tone was enough to make her bite back any objections she had. "Danny and Sheldon have already left for the hospital now you wait for me there."
"Okay." The line went dead and she snapped the phone shut.
Leaning her head back against the seat she tried to compose herself. She was completely losing it, and this wouldn't help anybody's situation.
Silently she prayed that Flack would make it thorough this.